HORSE SLAUGHTER

A N I M A L W E L F A R E I N S T I T U T E

BETRAYING OUR EQUINE ALLYHorses have served humans throughout history, carrying us on

their backs, tilling our fields, drawing wagons and carriages,

and enriching our lives as friends and companions. In the

United States, horses have never been raised for human

consumption, yet for decades, our horses have been bought

and slaughtered by a predatory, foreign-owned industry

for sale to high-end diners in Europe and Asia. In 2007, the

slaughter of horses on US soil came to an end when a federal

court ruling upheld a 1949 Texas law banning horse slaughter,

and legislation was passed in Illinois banning the practice.

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HORSE SLAUGHTER However, failure by the US Congress to pass bills such

as the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act into law

means that American horses are still being slaughtered for

human consumption abroad. Tens of thousands are shipped

to Mexico and Canada annually, where they are killed under

barbaric conditions so their meat can continue to satisfy the

palates of overseas diners in countries such as Italy, France,

Belgium, and Japan.

Additionally, without a federal law, there remains the

threat that horse slaughter plants may set up shop in states

that have no laws against the practice. Since 2008, attempts

to open horse slaughterhouses in New Mexico, Oklahoma,

South Dakota, Wyoming, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas, Illinois,

and Montana have been unsuccessful, but it is likely that horse

slaughter proponents will try again in these states or elsewhere.

Ironically, while the most vocal opponents of the SAFE

Act decry the closure of the domestic plants and subsequent

increase in the export of horses for slaughter, some actively

partner with the very individuals who are shipping our horses

to Mexico and Canada.

While a handful of horses are purposely sold into

slaughter by irresponsible owners, most arrive at the

slaughterhouse via livestock auctions, where unsuspecting

owners sell the animals to slaughterhouse middlemen known

as “killer buyers.” Despite the fact that the US plants are no

longer in operation, killer buyers continue to purchase and

haul as many horses as possible from livestock auctions

around the country to the slaughterhouses that have now

relocated to Mexico and Canada. In fact, more horses have

been slaughtered in each of the years after 2007—when the

last US-based horse slaughter plant was closed—than were

slaughtered annually in the years leading up to 2007.

Wild horses are also slaughtered, since a 2004 backdoor

congressional rider engineered by Senator Conrad Burns

(R–MT) gutted the protections afforded by the Wild Free-

Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971. Now, the Bureau of

Land Management, the agency responsible for protecting wild

horses, must sell “excess” horses (those 10 years of age or

older, or not adopted after three tries) at auction. As a result,

wild horses are being removed from their range at an alarming

rate and some have been sold for slaughter.

Although awareness has grown exponentially since AWI

began the national campaign against horse slaughter, the

horse meat trade is still relatively hidden from most Americans,

and the industry wants to keep it that way. The operations

manager of a Canadian horse slaughterhouse was quoted as

saying to the Edmonton Journal, “Talking about horses is kind

of a scary thing, especially in the West, where people think it’s

more of a pet than protein. When anybody starts writing about

horses, everybody gets up in arms. Every time we say anything

about horse in the paper, there’s always an uproar, so I don’t

want to talk about it.”

A BRUTAL DEATHThe suffering begins long before horses even reach the

slaughterhouse. Conditions of transport are appalling, with

horses regularly hauled to our domestic borders on journeys

Horse slaughter proponents claim that slaughter helps owners dispose of old or sick horses, but the slaughterhouses have said they want younger, healthier animals.

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lasting more than 24 hours. The horses are forced onto

trailers and deprived of food, water, or rest, so the shippers

can make as much profit as possible. Federal regulations

governing the transport of horses to slaughter are so

deficient that they allow the movement of blind horses,

horses with broken legs, and heavily pregnant mares.

Upon arrival at the slaughterhouse, the suffering continues

unabated. Horses can be left for long periods in tightly packed

trailers, subjected to further extremes of heat and cold. In hot

weather, their thirst is acute. Downed animals are unable to

rise, and horses are offloaded using excessive force.

As first reported by AWI in 2002, when the horses are

herded through the plant to slaughter, callous workers use

fiberglass rods to poke and beat their faces, necks, backs, and

legs as the animals are shoved through the facility and into

the kill box. Subjected to overcrowding, deafening sounds,

and the smell of blood, the horses become more and more

desperate, exhibiting fear typical of “flight” behavior—pacing

in prance-like movements with their ears pinned back against

their heads and eyes wide open.

Horse transportation laws are so weak that, even after a man hauling 19 horses to slaughter was charged with animal cruelty, the USDA failed to take action. Just after this photo was taken, the horses were slaughtered.

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Conditions over the border are even worse than those

at the previously operational US plants. An investigation by

the San Antonio Express-News revealed that the use of the

“puntilla” knife to incapacitate horses prior to slaughter is

common practice in Mexican slaughter plants, such as a facility

owned by Beltex, which formerly operated in Texas.

Footage obtained by the paper shows horses being

stabbed repeatedly in the neck with these knives prior to

slaughter. Such a barbaric practice simply paralyzes the

animals. They are still fully conscious at the start of the

slaughter process, during which they are hung by a hind leg

and have their throats slit before the bodies are butchered.

Death, the final betrayal of these noble animals, is often

protracted and excruciating.

In response, some advocate for restoration of horse

slaughter in the United States, a position which ignores the

cruelty inflicted on American horses right under the nose of

grossly underfunded and highly inadequate USDA inspection

programs. There is ample documentation from the USDA,

private investigations, and first-hand observations by AWI staff

to substantiate the inhumane treatment of horses at plants

when they were operating in the United States, just as there is

documentation of the inhumane treatment of horses at plants

that are operating outside the country. The only solution is

for horse slaughter to be banned here and American horses

prevented from being shipped to slaughter in other countries.

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DEBUNKING THE “UNWANTED HORSE” MYTHIn recent years, horse slaughter proponents have consistently

fought adoption of the SAFE Act, claiming that there is a

huge “unwanted horse” population in the United States.

Those who advance this unsubstantiated claim, including the

American Association of Equine Practitioners, the American

Veterinary Medical Association, the American Quarter Horse

Association, and the Livestock Marketing Association, have

lobbied Congress to block passage of the federal ban. Their

premise is that slaughter improves horse welfare, offering

a “humane” way to dispose of these animals—a “necessary

evil” without which horses would be subjected to neglect,

abandonment, and abuse.

In truth, no hard data exists to back up claims about a

burgeoning population of “unwanted horses.” What is clear

is that killer buyers working for the slaughterhouses are

outbidding other buyers at auction because they have the

financial incentive to do so. The market for slaughtered horses

is set by the international demand for their meat in other

countries, not by the number of supposedly unwanted horses.

Horse slaughter proponents claim that shutting down

US plants has depressed the market for horses, resulting in

over 100,000 unwanted horses in the United States and a

concomitant increase in abuse, neglect, and abandonment.

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Yet, more horses are slaughtered now than before the US

plants closed, and the number is rising. According to the USDA,

125,000 American horses were exported to slaughterhouses

in Canada and Mexico in 2015. How can closing US facilities

depress the market for horses when demand from killer buyers

continues? Such numbers directly undermine the argument put

forth by slaughter proponents.

Thankfully, a truly humane veterinary organization has

emerged to counter the bogus claims of these veterinary

Horses rescued from slaughter are often severely neglected. Many individuals sending horses to slaughter feel no need to spend money to care for them in the end.

After some basic care and proper diet, most horses rescued from slaughter can go on to lead healthy lives.

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and industry organizations. Veterinarians for Equine Welfare

(VEW) was founded by a group of leading veterinarians

to help educate the public about horse slaughter from a

veterinary position.

During a trip to meet with legislators in Washington, DC,

VEW co-founder Dr. Nicholas Dodman said, “Horse owners

currently have two options when their horse has reached the

end of his or her trail: They can pay to do the right thing (re-

home or euthanasia) or be paid to do the wrong thing (send to

slaughter). A few thoughtless folks choose to do the latter, and

it should not be an option.”

ILLEGALLY ACQUIRED HORSESHundreds—perhaps thousands—of our horses are stolen

each year. Horse thieves make quick money by unloading

illegally obtained horses to killer buyers and slaughterhouses.

Slaughterhouses typically kill and process them so quickly that

it is almost impossible to trace and recover stolen animals in

time to save their lives. Who would imagine their stolen animal

was hauled across the border to be slaughtered for meat?

The owners’ stories can be heartbreaking. Judy Taylor of

Kentucky sought help in caring for her two beloved Appaloosa

horses, Poco and PJ, due to her own serious health problems.

At the recommendation of a friend, she contacted Lisa and

Jeff Burgess. The couple agreed to take care of the animals

with the understanding that, if they were unable to continue

doing so, the horses would be returned to Judy. Despite this

agreement, within seven days of receiving the horses, the

Burgesses sold them to a known killer buyer. Soon after, Judy

discovered what had happened and frantically searched for the

horses acquired with fraudulent intentions.

Eventually, she learned the horrifying truth—her

horses had been slaughtered for their meat. Although it

could not bring back her horses, Taylor did successfully

sue the Burgesses. The Kentucky Court of Appeals noted,

“The Burgesses’ conduct clearly rises to the level of being

outrageous and intolerable in that it offends generally

accepted standards of decency and morality, certainly a

situation in which the recitation of the facts to an average

member of the community would arouse his resentment

against the actor, and lead him to exclaim, ‘Outrageous!’”

In another tragic case, a horse owner in northwest

Oklahoma contacted AWI to report that her two pregnant

mares were purchased by someone who in turn sold them for

slaughter. “Nobody that works at the auction barn let me know

who was buying,” she said. “I found out when I went to the

office to ask how to notify the buyers so I could send them the

breeding certificates.” When the staff hinted that no certificates

would be needed, the owner suspected something might be

wrong. By the time she located the buyers, the mares had

already been sent to Mexico and slaughtered.

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCESupport bills such as the SAFE Act, which would once and for

all end both the shipment of American horses for slaughter

abroad, and end the threat that horse slaughter plants will

reopen in the United States. Until the US Congress passes this

or a similar bill into law, show horses, racehorses, foals born as

“byproducts” in the production of Premarin (a female hormone

replacement drug), wild horses, burros, and family horses will

all continue to fall prey to this detestable industry.

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AWI spokesman and country music legend Willie Nelson greets one of the many rescued horses he has retired to his ranch in Luck, Texas.

In the meantime, do not sell your horse at an auction

where killer buyers may operate. Consider donating your horse

to a rescue organization or retirement farm; donating, selling,

or leasing your horse to a therapeutic riding program; or selling

the horse privately to an individual with proper references and

a legally binding agreement that the horse will never be sold

to slaughter. Humane euthanasia by a licensed veterinarian is

preferable to cruel transport and slaughter.

Stolen horses may end up at the slaughterhouse. Please

report any stolen horses to local and state authorities.

Likewise, if you witness an abused or abandoned horse, please

report the details to your local animal control authority for

further investigation. Not only does such abuse and neglect

require immediate attention for the obvious welfare reasons,

but these horses are also at risk of being sold into slaughter by

uncaring owners.

Help raise awareness concerning the issue of horse

slaughter by writing letters to the editors of your local

newspapers and any equine publications you read. You can

contact your local media outlets through AWI’s Compassion

Index at www.compassionindex.org.

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Since 1951, AWI has been a leading voice for animals

around the globe. Please join our efforts to reduce the suffering

inflicted on animals by humans and sign up for AWI eAlerts to

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all animals: www.awionline.org/joinus.

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